


Got Your Back

by mpjones3



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Computer Programming, Fluff, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-23 03:32:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13181469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mpjones3/pseuds/mpjones3
Summary: Midterms are hard, especially for William Poindexter.His friends are there to help.





	Got Your Back

Quite frankly, Dex is tired.

The computer science professors have been pushing them like crazy these past couple days, putting assignment after assignment after midterm, and he thinks he’s slept about 12 hours in 3 days. Not to mention, he’s trying to do all of his other work, and hockey practice was at an unusual time this morning. Rather than the early morning practices that allow him a 2 to 3 hour nap on Saturday before doing his work, they ran from nine this morning to noon. And while the extra sleep would have been nice for a rational human, he may or may not have stayed up late the night before watching dumb movies with his friends and pretending to work on the assignment due the next night.

Needless to say, Dex is feeling the effects of his late nights, and he’s not done enough on this coding assignment due at nine tonight to even warrant a break. So, Dex showers quickly after practice and grabs lunch while working on the assignment, knowing full well that he has to run to meet his computer science partner in forty-five minutes.

At 3:30, they’ve been working on the assignment for just under two hours, and while they’re making headway, they definitely should have started it earlier. But Dex’s partner, Jason, is determined. He wants to get as far as possible, and knows that if they work steadily, they can get at least a 60 on the assignment. Dex drags his exhausted body into a new chair closer to a charger, and he studies the code. Jason is speeding through the assignment, and being quite tolerant of Dex’s fumbling brain trying to grasp the concepts and make a decent contribution to the project.

Dex just feels numb. The lines of code are blurring and nothing is running as well as Dex wants it to. His mind starts getting ahead of him, telling him “you aren’t good enough at this.”, and Dex is listening, but not giving up because that would just be rude to Jason. He gets up to grab a drink of water, splashes some water on his face, and goes back to typing.

By 6:00, they’ve been joined in the library by at least six of Jason’s male friends all working on the same assignment. It becomes a comfortable conglomerate of idea-swapping and helping, even if Dex knows none of them. Girls tend to avoid computer science boys, and frankly, Dex doesn’t blame them. The guys are nice most of the time, but a lot of them have been coding since they were little, and a genius complex has started to develop, making them kinda insufferable.

Dex has been texting Chowder, who finished the assignment early, for most of the day. Chowder is giving as many helpful hints as he can, but Samwell’s against plagiarism, and the boys have to be careful or else they’ll be suspended from a game. Nursey and Chowder took advantage of the day starting later, and they went off into the city, exploring and just hanging out like bros do. Rounding the bend to 7:30, Dex’s stomach is growling, and he knows that the exhaustion and hunger are crippling his work. One of Jason’s friends left and brought Jason a dining hall cup of lucky charms, but Dex can see that he won’t get any more work done before the deadline if he does not get food in him soon.

Admitting defeat, Dex shoots the frogs group chat a text, just the words:

dex: _“I'm out, but Jason will not concede to the code. I will die without food soon. Bring dinner to library please if possible.”_

nurse: **we’re on our way back from panera now do u want that**

chow: we can bring you some if you want!! i know you like their mac n cheese!! what do you want?!?!

dex: _“Mac and cheese would be incredible, thank you. Add a roast beef sandwich and an apple and I will love you both forever. I can pay you once you get here. But if it’s too much effort, I can honestly wait another 2 hours.”_

chow: its cool!!!! we were gonna text you anyway and see if you wanted anything!! and don’t worry we love you too!!!

nurse: **dont be stupid dexy what are friends for**

dex: _“Thank you both so much. I owe you big time. Jason and I are on the second floor of the library. I am the one who looks on the verge of death.”_

nurse: **drama queen**

nurse: **but ok we’ll be there in 10**

Dex feels immediately revitalized by the idea of food, and he sticks his head back into the code, putting his earbuds in for the last hour of work.

True to their word, Chowder and Nursey arrive in 10 minutes, bringing with them a large bag of food. They can spot Dex from his shock of bright red hair, but they’re more shocked by the pure exhaustion lacing his body. He’s slumped over his laptop in a chair, earbuds in, and you can see the blue bruises under his eyes from rubbing them awake. His hockey bag is placed haphazardly next to him, and many of the other boys at the table don’t look any better.

Dex looks up and his face lights up at the sight of his friends. They cared enough to bring him food, and even though Dex knows he has more work to do, and that he and Jason will not do as well on this assignment as they previously have, most of his worries fly away. His tiredness seems manageable and the words have stopped trying to fly off the screen. He thanks his friends, expecting them to leave and that he’ll keep working on the code until the last minute it’s due. But they don’t leave. In fact, they move over to a couch nearby, and chat, making it clear they aren’t leaving without Dex.

It might be that they’re worried he might collapse on the way back to the Haus, and it’s not completely unfounded, but these small acts of kindness warm Dex’s heart. He turns back to the lukewarm mac n cheese, and back to his bug-ridden code, and works until the clock ticks 8:50, at which point he sends it to Jason, they submit it, and Dex lets out a breath he did not even know he was holding.

Dex goes to work on another assignment due on Monday, figuring that while he’s focused, he might as well get more work done. Unbeknownst to him, though, Nursey’s been watching the clock and before Dex can get into the meat of his homework, Nursey’s closing his laptop and gathering his chargers, and Chowder’s carrying his hockey bag. His sluggish brain works to keep up, protesting until Nursey says “Dude, you’ve been going nonstop this week. Let that hard head of yours have a rest. We’ll take you home to sleep.”

Dex lets himself be lead out of the library, and back to the Haus, where Bitty fusses at him for not sleeping enough, and sends him on his way with a promise for blueberry muffins and bacon in the morning. Putting on his flannel pants, Dex collapses into bed, not stopping to brush his teeth. And even though it’s early to his mind and he wants to thank his friends, Dex lets the exhaustion of the day wash over him, and he sleeps until morning.

Chowder and Nursey go to bed a little later. Upon checking on Dex, and finding him fast asleep, they fist bump. The frogs, they’ve got each other’s back.


End file.
